Bolt (voice of Travolta) is a celebrity dog and the star of a hit TV show where his amazing feats and powers draw big ratings. But when a mail-room mix-up finds him roaming free on the streets of New York City, the wonder dog will have to learn to rely on his actual strengths -- as well as his new friends, an abandoned housecat and a starry-eyed hamster -- in order to find his way back home to his owner and co-star, Penny (voice of Cyrus).
Buzz:
Disney's latest morality tale sort of sounds heaps better than, say, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but way less interesting as the Monsters Vs. Aliens teaser trailer that popped up online earlier this week. Hmm, what else to say? Well, Travolta is nowhere near as creepy to look at here than he was in Wild Hogs and Hairspray. Good luck to Ms. Miley Cyrus in her voice-role debut; she might be barely audible among the presence of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" standout Sussie Essman -- listen for her to steal as many scenes as she's in, though she'll have to keep her language family-friendly here.
In her new town of Forks, Washington, misfit teenager Bella Swan (Stewart) falls for her alluring and mysterious classmate, Edward Cullen (Pattinson). As it turns out, Edward belongs to a lineage of vampires, although he doesn't fit the typical vampire mold. As their passion reaches dizzying heights, can Edward resist his natural urges, and will he be able to defend Bella from his family members who have come for her?
Buzz:
In terms of movies, 2008 will be remembered as the year superheroes went truly mainstream and, separately, the industry realized that female and gay male audiences are a neglected demographic. But what about the younger generation -- more specifically, teenage girls? Has any studio been able to figure out what they want, aside from Hannah Montana? Enter Catherine Hardwicke's adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's first novel, a project that first captured our interest very early this year when Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward), and a handful of their castmates took over our STARmeter chart, well in advance of any available footage from the production. The hype reached its first apex at Comic-Con, when the movie's panel earned Beatlemania comparisons from aging journalists who covered their ears as the teen girls and their "Twilight Moms" made the event more of a freak-out and less of a presentation. It's always tricky to predict if Internet buzz will turn into box-office gold (or, in this case, crimson) but I will say this: If the mother-daughter duos turn out for opening weekend (which was pushed up from mid-December to pre-Thanksgiving once Harry Potter decided to hide until 2009), Twilight could trump some higher-profile holiday movies, powered by repeat audiences, and send competing studios rushing off to optioned like-minded novels. Stephenie Meyer is keeping a blog on the movie's progress, so you might want to bookmark it as your destination for all things vamp as the release date draws near.
Metermaid Les Franken (Rapaport) has an unexpected reaction to the anti-depressant he's taking as part of a clinical trial; suddenly convinced he's a superhero, he embraces his new powers, dons a homemade costume, and hits the streets to protect the citizens of his city. the corporation behind the pill, fearing bad publicity about their drug, set out to bring down our hero, who in turn hones his abilities to fight off his new arch-nemeses.
Buzz:
This one has been around since '06, but Magnet Films has saved it from DVD obscurity as part of their Six Shooter Film Series. You can bank on an ace performance from go-to character actor Michael Rappaport (who is sadly un-super-famous), but reviewers say prepare for a tonal shift that steers the story away from its comedic beginning and into murky, paranoid territory. Is that a good or bad thing? Either way: It sounds better than Hancock to me.
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National Treasure (DVD) Review
One of the surprise blockbusters of 2004, National Treasure evokes images of the Indiana Jones trilogy with its adventurous search for a mysterious hidden treasure. But more than likely, the film is the result of the massive commercial success of a "quest for the holy grail" novel entitled The Da Vinci Code. Since its release, Dan Brown's book has sold over twenty million copies, and its plot of a historian turned treasure hunter who uncovers ancient clues put in place by the Knights Templar and the Masons that hold the key to a treasure of unimaginable consequences from the era of the Crusades while doing so with the aid of a beautiful woman curator of the very archive which holds the crucial clues to its discovery, all while an evil competitor who seeks the treasure for himself follows on his heels - whew! is a plot device that's eerily similar to Dan Brown's bestseller. But National Treasure takes place in the United States instead of Europe, so you can rest assured that the book's success had nothing to do with the movie's production (wink, wink)? Anyway, regardless of its origin, National Treasure is an entertaining adventure more than worthy of a movie-goer's time?
National Treasure follows the exploits of Benjamin "Ben" Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), the youngest in a long line of historians who believe that America's Founding Fathers were the guardians of a massive treasure dating back to the era of the Crusades. Despite his father Patrick's (Jon Voight) pessimism, Ben investigates a clue provided by his grandfather John Adams Gates (Christopher Plummer) - a clue handed down by their distant relative Charles Carroll, one of the last surviving signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Working with his employer Ian Howe (Sean Bean), Ben unlocks the mystery of the clue which leads to his belief that a treasure map is encoded in invisible on the backside of the Declaration of Independence?
When Ian hatches a scheme to rob the National Archives of its most treasured artifact, Ben promptly alerts the FBI. But the feds' failure to take his claim seriously prompts Ben to devise his own plan to steal the parchment (so he can protect its secrets from Ian). Along the way, Ben convinces National Archives curator Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) of the conspiracy, and she agrees to help him steal the Declaration of Independence. With each new success, Ben and Abigail are brought closer to the ultimate discovery. But Ian Howe and the FBI are always one step behind, and multiple dangerous obstacles remain in their way? Does a vast treasure of wealth hidden by the Founding Fathers really exist? And will Ben and Abigail find it before it falls into the wrong hands? Just as with Harry Potter and Indiana Jones, all the fun is in waiting to find out?
National Treasure marks the second mass-audience commercial success of 2004 for Walt Disney Pictures (The Incredibles being the other), and Disney teams up once again with Jerry Bruckheimer Films (with whom it worked on The Pirates Of The Caribbean) to pull off the feat. Director Jon Turteltaub (While You Were Sleeping) manages to provide a modicum of realism to a film that asks it audience time and again to ignore common sense. Sporting a screenplay that offers its hero a series of absurdly difficult clues which he solves with relative ease, National Treasure presents a comic book edifice that borders on the juvenile. But the film is saved by the fact that it doesn't come across in an overtly serious light, but rather as a fun and entertaining night at the movies that even offers a bit of comic relief. As such, National Treasure is a definite must-see film. Because if it's anything, it's loads of fun?
Britt Gillette is author of <a href="http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com">The DVD Report</a>, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the <a href="http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/national-treasure-dvd.html">National Treasure (DVD)</a>. Read more at:http://www.ArticlePros.com/arts_and_entertainment/movie_reviews/article-19791.html.
